Oil-feed indicator.



o. L. LOUG'HEAD.

OIL FEED INDICATOR.

APPLICATION FILED FEB.9, I9I6.

Patented Jan.7,1919.

AT TDFINEYE renonce..

y tors.

l s i Aras PATE r.. tovenaar, or nacnm, wisconsin, Assrenoa or ONE-HALF 'ro Bonner IBALDWN LANG, OF RACINE, WISCUNSIN.

ont-FEED innrcaroa.

Speeincaton of Letters Patent.'

To all whom 'may concern.'

Be it lmovvn that Il, OSCAR L LoUonnAD,

la citizen of the United States, and resident ot Racine, in the county of Racine and State of Wisconsin-have invented new and useful Improvements in Oil-Feed Indicators, ot which the following is a description, refere'nce being had to the accompanying drawings, which are a part of this specification.

The invention relates to oil feed indica- '1he invention is designed more particularly to provide a device for indicating whether the oiling 'system 'of an engine, particularly an internal combustion engine, 1s

operating properly.

'lhe `common type of indicator for ac complishing this purpose consists in gendit eral of a glass tuoe connected in the oil feed system so that the oil may be visible as it passes through the tube, but the diiiiculty with an indicator of this kind is that theoil soon soils the tube so that no indication is visible. To cbviate this difficulty, I 'have devised an indicator employing a visible pointer which is adapted to 'be moved over a dial Ihy a plunger operatively connected thereto and sensitive to ductuati'ons in pressure of the oil feed system. 1

'lllhe invention is further designed to pro vide a new and improved form ot loil feed indicator.

The invention consists in the several features hereinafter set forth and more particularly deiined 'by a claim `at the conclusion hereof. i

lin the drawings: Figure 1 is a plan view of the device emhodying the invention; E lFig. 2 is a section taken on line 2-2 of Fig. 3 is a section taken on line 3--3 of Fig. 2; i

Fig. 4 is Fig. 2; i

ltig. 5 lliig. 2; y

lEig. 6 is a side view of the device, 'showin in section a modified form of connector. lhe device consists of an indicator and Imeans for connecting said indicator to the oil' supply system of the engine sothat the a section taken on line 4r-4 of indicator is iniiuenced thereby to show the etl oonditionof operation of the oil feed mecha# nism..

is aV section taken on line 5-5 ofv Patented Jan.- l', 1919.

The casing consists of a cup-shaped member-'8 provided with an annular iiange 9 ady jacent the open end thereof and with aper tures 10 in said flange through'which any suitable fasteningmeans may be inserted to secure the indicator to any sint-able support,

such as the dash-hoard of an automobile, an

inner cover 11 tightly fitting Within the open Aend ofthe cup-shaped member 8 andprovided With an annular flange portion 12 overlapping the dange 9, land an outer cover 13 vfitting Within the inner cover 11 and provided vvitha Harige 14 overlapping the iiange 12 of said inner cover. VThe outer cover 13 is provided With an aperture '14 :tor vie the end of the pointer 7 A sheet of mica or other vltransparent material 15 is disposed on the inside of the outer cover and is secured in place by a shield or plate 16 which is pro; vided with anopening 17 registering with the opening 14 in the cover, the plate 16 laeing suitably secured to the outer cover. The plate 16 is also provided with an outwardly extending tongue 18 punched therefrom Yfor a purpose hereinafter described.

The means operatively connected to l: v pointer for controlling and causing its vmovement comprises a cylinder 19 provided der, means for operatively connecting the cylinder to the connector with the oil sup' ply system, and means for o eratively connecting the piston to Ithe indicating pointer.;

@d the connector for the oil supp y sytem e The means for connecting-the linder to comprises a member 22 seated in an ap 23 in the closed end 24: of the cylinder '19, The member 22 comprises a indle 25, a

threaded ortion 26 of larger dlameter than' the spin e and having threaded engagement with the cylinder 19, a portion 27 of larger diameter than the portion 26 with a hexagonal head 28 which is adapted to be inserted in a hexagonal bottom of the casing 8. channel 30 extends through the portion 27 of the member 22 and communicates with a `channel "31 which leads to the bore 20 of the cylinder-19. The means for operatively connecting the opening 29 in thevso channel 44.

piston 21 to the pointer 7 comprises a connecting rod 32, ixedly secured at one end 33 to the front end ofthe piston 21 by any suitable means, such as a screw 34 and movably secured at its other end to a crank 35 carried by a sleeve 36 loosely mounted on the spindle 25 by a pin 37. The inner end of the pointer 7 is mounted in the sleeve 36. Resultan'tly the reciprocation of the plunger 21 in the cylinder 2O Will, through the rod 32, crank 3'5 and` sleeve 36, callseiwixed position, but in case the oil should the'oscillation of the pointer 7. -if

Means are also provided for limiting the movementv ofthe pointer in extreme positions. This consists of the tongue 18, previously described, which slidi ably engages in 'an arcuate slot 37 in an enlarged portion 38 of the pointer, the movementJ of the pointer being limited by the engagement of the tongue 18 with the ends of the slot 37.

The means for connecting the indicator to the oil supply system of the engine comprises in some instances a coupling member 39 having threaded engagement at its inner end 40 with the member 22 and having threaded engagement at its outer end 41 with a pipe in the oil feed system (not shown). In other instances where the present indicator is designed to take the place of the usual sight feed glass tube indicator, I provide a connection 42, shown in detail in Fig. 6. This connection comprises a member provided with a channel 43 communicating with the channel `30 of the indicator, a transversely extending channel 44 communicating With the channel 43, and a channel 45 forming a continuation of the channel 44, coupling means for securing the connector in the oil feed system comprising couplings 46 and 47 adapted to be connected to pipes in the oil feed system (not shown), and a valve 48 having threaded engagement With a portion 49 of the member 22 and an end 50 which may be moved to regulate the supply of oil passing through the The connector 42 is secured to the indicator in the same manner as the connector 39, shown in Fig. 2, by a threaded end (not shown) which engages in the end of the threaded mem-ber 22.

predeterminedl With either form of connector, the operation of the indicator is as follows:

If the oil system is Working properly, some of the oil will pass into the bore 19 of the cylinder 2O and move the piston 21 outwardly,.tl1us causing the pointer 7 to oscillate from left to right across Ithe face of the inner cover and oil is under congstant'wpressure the pointer will practically remain in a substantially fail to feed properly and the pressure in the system be thereby reduced, the pointer Will move toward the left and thus indicate to the operator the condition of the oil feed mechanism.

The invention thus exemplifies a simple and efiicient device for indicating the conditionof the oil supply system for an engine and o ne in which the indicator is at all times visiblewand not subject to be soiled by getting in contact with the oil of the system itself'.

What I claim as my invention is 2- An oil feed indicator comprising a cup shaped member, a recessed inner cover member fitting Within the open end of said cup shaped member and having an opening therein, a cylinder disposed Within the casing formed by said members, a spindle projecting through the opening in the cover member and carrying a sleeve, a piston wit-hin said cylinder responsive to variations in pressure in the oil supply system, means Within said casing connecting thc piston and sleeve together to oscillate the sleeve on the movement of the piston, an outer cover member having an annular iange fitting within the receed portion of the inner cover member and provided With an opening, a piece of transparent material covering said opening, a pointer secured to the sleeve and disposed in the space between the oulter and inner cover members, and means on the outer cover coperating with the pointer to limit its extreme positions of movement.

In testimony whereof, I aiix my signature.

OSCAR L. LOUGI-IEAD.

if theY supply of" 

